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Hi all

been lurking for a while now and finally joined.

we had been talking about buying a caravan for a good few months, having been devout 'package hol' family for years, twice a year Ibiza, Majorca etc. and a week in a static in Ingoldmells.

Anyway, this year we (me, the oh, 15 year old daughter and 18 month old son) and friends (m&d and 15 y/o daughter) went to Ibiza in June, full board, great hotel, at a cost of just over 2k for all of us.

In September, we started looking for next year, albeit in July (due to daughters up coming GSCE's), just for the 4 of us, they wanted 3k !!!!!!!! 

This was the catalyst for us to start looking for a caravan, we bought one last month, but it turned out to be a bit of a lemon, but the dealer was great and let us swap/p/ex for another van. Our first trip was to Callow Top, and we loved it.

Nearly every one I have spoken to has said 'we have been thinking about caravaning' , but the initial fairly big layout (our justification was we have spent what we have done on next years couple of weeks away, but will get many more holidays )can put people off

Apologies for the ramble on my first post  but I honestly think carvanning is going to grow, especially amoungst the 30/40 y/o, young family brigade and we cant wait till next year

Apologies for the ramble on my first post  but I honestly think carvanning is going to grow, especially amoungst the 30/40 y/o, young family brigade and we cant wait till next year

big welcome to UKCS.says it all really.our grandson has been caravanning since he was 6 month old,still keeps one eye on me and one on the caravan to make sure it has not moved.he loves it.never wants to go home.

Looking around the 40 plus pitch commercial sites up here, there seems to me to be a large element of 50+ year olds who have, in years gone by, done their summer holidays abroad and are now the mainstay of most of these sites by being there every weekend on a seasonal pitch.
These are the ones that run the social club, organise themselves into getting the site owners to spend some money on extra facilities and generally turn mediocre sites into something special.
It is these sites that are listening to the residents that will survive no matter what happens to the rest of the caravan world.
It is these sites that do not need tourist atractions, restaurants, caravan and/or camping clubs to survive, but are popular simply because they attract the right type of person for that particular form of caravanning.

Oh sure there are also the huge sites that lay on everything from entertainment to restaurants but Butlins/Haven type sites are not run or even influenced by caravanners and are only there to make money for their investors.
But again, there is an element that likes that kind of holiday.

Likewise in many ways are the smaller CL sites positioned where they are to catch the passing trade of those that are either on their way to somewhere else or are in an area where there are not enough other types of sites to cater for everyone who will be holidaying in that area.

Lastly we have the Club Sites with their associate 5 van CS Sites.
Very much dependant on a captured audience, their campers tend to choose their holidays straight out of the club Sites Books and whether they be touring holidays or site based holidays, these campers/caravanners demand rules and regulations and hygene standards that many others find hard to swallow.
However, the majority of the Club Sites have, in the past, been failed commercial sites that the clubs have been able to take over quite cheaply. It is only by enforcing their rules and regulations and having a captured membership that they can turn these sites around and make them a commercial success.

I do hope that Caravanning is on the way up because despite the multitude of choice that we have today with all these different types of sites catering for different types of campers, in the past 10 years many CL and other small commercial sites have closed down including a few that we used to use and would love to see opened for business once more.

If Caravanning is "on the way up" it still has a way to go to get back to the choice of sites that we had 10 or 15 years ago when there was less caravans on the road.
Which is perhaps why there is now so much talk of folks being unable to find the site of their choice for a holiday because everywhere is booked up.

i think there is still a lot of stigma attached to vanning, people whove never done it dont realize what its like and the fun to be had, and associate it with 'old' people!

although the blooming queues of vans on the motorway in cornwall this year suggest otherwise!

as for it being cheap, i wish! carravanning has cost us in excess of 17 k in the last year!! blooming heck thats scary! inc the van, insurance, fuel, site fees, spending money etc

Quote: Originally posted by FUOSA on 22/11/2008

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i think there is still a lot of stigma attached to vanning, people whove never done it dont realize what its like and the fun to be had, and associate it with 'old' people!

although the blooming queues of vans on the motorway in cornwall this year suggest otherwise!

as for it being cheap, i wish! carravanning has cost us in excess of 17 k in the last year!! blooming heck thats scary! inc the van, insurance, fuel, site fees, spending money etc

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We are about the same only it is over the past 2 years. Then again, having got "the van" that will do us the rest of our camping lives and now bought all the main extras, all we have to find now is the site fees and the yearly costs. So yes, from now on it will be the cheaper option and we can always not use it for a couple of years and just do some package holidays.

For us it is all ablout freedom of choice.